How to Navigate the Changing Contractor Hiring Market

Over the past few months on this blog, we’ve covered several aspects of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted hiring. One perspective we have yet to cover is the influx of companies turning to contractor hiring and contingent workers.

Some industries are utilizing contractors through the pandemic because they might not know how many of their jobs will be truly permanent. Some industries are using contingent workers to complete tasks that arose suddenly during the pandemic and won’t be necessary later. Regardless of why your company might be hiring more contractors, it’s important to have a consistent screening process in place for temporary workers.

Contractors can deal with the same sensitive, proprietary information and have the same client interactions as full-time employees. To make your investment in contractors pay off, follow these tips for choosing contractors you can trust.

Set Consistent Expectations to help navigate contractor hiring

Despite the constraints of a crisis like the pandemic, you shouldn’t abandon your usual hiring practices. Maintaining consistency in screening expectations and hiring are key to avoiding unnecessary risk from a poor hire.

Apply the same screening standards to contingent workers as you would to any other employee. If you run drug tests or driving record checks on your full-time team, perform the same checks for temporary hires. Consistency will prevent headaches for your HR team and streamline your hiring so you can get the best contractors to work as quickly as possible.

Add a Few Contractor-Specific Guidelines

While your base screening process should be the same for contractors as it is for any other potential employee, you can add some screenings specific to contingent workers to amplify your background reports.

For one-off, temporary or contingent workers, you’ll follow approximately the same screening process you would follow for any other employee. You can include a few additional screenings such as drug screenings or driving records checks.

If you’re hiring a contractor, be aware that their staffing company will run their own background checks. You can let their staffing company know if you want any screenings or specific searches beyond their background checks. For vendors, construction workers or other workers who need access to your property, you can use One Source Certified Contractors (OSCC) checks to allow them access to your site. A school, for example, would use OSCC to find a contractor to fix their plumbing or renovate the school.

You can source contractors from staffing agencies who will run their own background checks for you. If you decide to hire any of the contractors full-time, you can then use your own screening process to vet them thoroughly before they become a full employee.

Whether you need several contingent workers quickly or want to spend some time finding the right person to handle a task for you, be sure to complete a proper screening before you give anyone access to your organization. One Source can help you screen all potential contractors so you can move forward. Contact our Client Relations Team to learn more about contractor screening.